SELINA TOBACCOWALA
SVP of product and engineering, SurveyMonkey

SVP of product and engineering, SurveyMonkeyWaze: “This is a fantastic app. Not only does it tell you how to get to places, it also gives you the fastest route. Anything that saves me time is worth its weight in gold.”TuneIn: “This app lets me pause and rewind live radio, so I can listen at my leisure.”

CEO, CooksimpleBioLite Camp Stove: “This is my perfect summer companion: It boils water with twigs I scrounge rather than gas canisters I shlep, and can keep my iPhone powered for snapping more pics of backcountry adventures.”GoLite Lime Lite shoes: “I had no idea what my feet were missing until I tried these! I’m sure I actually work faster and smarter with these bad boys.”

Cofounder and chief happiness officer, HappierNorwegian Wood: “Haruki Murakami writes in such a way that you feel yourself escaping reality. I’ve read this book more than a few times, and it’s one I would definitely take with me to a deserted island.”Skunkfunk: “My favorite Spanish fashion label. Unexpected designs, crazy colors, interesting shapes, and not insanely expensive.”

Founder, Veracity Media, and village president, South Orange, New JerseyF.lux: “For those like me who spend a lot of time in front of computers, F.lux changes the color temperature of your screen as it gets later in the day to ease eye strain and work with your body’s sleep schedule.”If This Then That: “A common phrase in the programming world, but also a totally awesome website-software-app that connects all your different online services: Starred items in Gmail get pulled into Evernote, for example, or you’ll get a text every time the weather forecast changes. Pretty handy!”

Director, Parsons PetlabKentucky Route Zero: “This episodic adventure game is mysterious and beautiful. I keep returning to replay episode 1, and can’t wait for episode 2 to come out to find out what happens next.” Stitcher: “In N.Y.C., my body is my car, and Stitcher is my car radio. Whether it’s last night’s Rachel Maddow or live radio (WNYC and KCRW–the best of both coasts), the app is part of my daily pedestrian commute.”

Cofounder and CEO, PayTangoBoomerang: “It’s a Gmail plugin that moves messages out of your inbox until you need them. Messages resurface either at a scheduled time or when you don’t hear back, keeping your inbox clean without letting anything slip through the cracks.”Feedly: “Simply the best cross-platform RSS reader. Its gesture-based interface allows you to effortlessly swipe through headlines and read beautifully formatted articles on any device.”

Cofounder and CEO, OpensignalApp Annie: “The authority on analytics for mobile apps. This is an invaluable tool for keeping track of app downloads or for running detailed research on competitors.”Truecaller: “Whether it’s avoiding nuisance calls, remembering the name of an acquaintance, or recognizing the international dialing code for Nigeria, Truecaller’s app–a global database of phone numbers–is a must-have tool.”

SVP of technical operations, EtsyThe Field Guide to Understanding Human Error: “Every gut feeling you have about how errors are made and how they should be treated is likely wrong. Author Sidney Dekker challenges the conventional wisdom on so-called human error, and you will never see a mistake the same way again.” Lumosity: “The older I get, the more cognizant I am about keeping my mind sharp, and this app
is perfect for testing my mettle on memory, reaction time, attention, etc.”

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A version of this article appeared in the September 2013 issue of Fast Company magazine.